SPORTS OF THE TIMES; The Yankees' World Series Ring Leaders

By DAVE ANDERSON

Published: October 29, 2009

For all of the domination by the Yankees in previous World Series, have you ever wondered which of the team's players were on the most winning teams? Being a teammate of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera certainly helped, but dozens of other players contributed to the franchise's 26-13 record in World Series. Here are the leaders:

10-4, YOGI BERRA In a record 75 World Series games as a catcher, outfielder and pinch-hitter on 14 pennant winners from 1947 to 1963, he had 12 home runs, 39 runs batted in, 10 doubles, a .274 average, 32 walks, only 17 strikeouts and 10 rings.

9-1, JOE DIMAGGIO He batted .271 with 8 homers and 30 R.B.I. as the classic center fielder on Yankees teams from 1936 to 1951 that beat the Giants and the Dodgers three times each, and the Cubs, the Reds and the Phillies once. His only Series loss was to the 1942 Cardinals.

7-1, BILL DICKEY The catcher on teams that spanned the end of the Ruth-Gehrig era to the start of the DiMaggio era, he hit .255 with 5 homers and 24 R.B.I. while handling several Hall of Fame pitchers.

7-2, PHIL RIZZUTO AND HANK BAUER In Rizzuto's best Series, he batted .381 in the 1942 loss to the Cardinals, .308 against the 1947 Dodgers, .320 against the 1951 Giants and .316 against the 1953 Dodgers. Bauer's 17-game hitting streak from 1956 to 1958 is a Series record.

7-5, MICKEY MANTLE His 18 homers, 40 R.B.I., 123 total bases, 43 walks and 54 strikeouts remain Series records. After being on a winner in five of his first seven Series from 1951 to 1958 against the Dodgers, the Giants and the Braves, he was on a loser in three of his last five.

6-0, VIC RASCHI AND JOHNNY MURPHY Raschi had a 5-3 won-lost record with a 2.24 earned run average from 1947 to 1953. Murphy, one of the first full-time relief pitchers and later a Mets general manager, had a 2-0 record and a 1.10 E.R.A. over eight appearances from 1936 to 1943.

6-1, LOU GEHRIG, FRANK CROSETTI AND RED RUFFING Gehrig batted .361 with 35 R.B.I. and 10 homers until ALS shortened his career. Crosetti, a shortstop, spanned the late Ruth-Gehrig era and the early DiMaggio era, as did the right-hander Ruffing, who was 7-2 with a 2.63 E.R.A.

6-5, WHITEY FORD In compiling a 2.71 E.R.A. from 1950 to 1964, he established Series records for most games won (10), most innings (146), most strikeouts (94), most consecutive scoreless innings (33), most games and most games started (22), most opening games started (8) and also most games lost (8).

5-0, LEFTY GOMEZ, ED LOPAT, GENE WOODLING AND JOHNNY MIZE In seven starts in the 1930s, Gomez had a 2.86 E.R.A. and a 6-0 record. Lopat, Woodling and Mize were among the dozen Yankees on the record five straight winners from 1949 to 1953.

5-1, TONY LAZZERI, RED ROLFE AND GEORGE SELKIRK Lazzeri, a Hall of Fame second baseman, batted .267 with 19 R.B.I. from 1926 to 1937. Rolfe, an early DiMaggio-era third baseman, hit .284 with 17 runs scored. Selkirk, who succeeded the Babe in right field, was on winners until the 1942 loss.

5-2, JOE COLLINS As a left-handed-hitting first baseman and outfielder, he had 4 homers and 10 R.B.I. from 1950 to 1957.

5-3, GIL MCDougald Moving easily to shortstop, third base and second base, he had 24 R.B.I. and 23 runs scored from 1951 to 1960.

4-0, TOMMY HENRICH AND DAVID CONE A right fielder and first baseman known as Old Reliable, Henrich hit .323 with 5 R.B.I. in 1947; his ninth-inning homer won the 1949 opener at the Stadium, 1-0. Cone caught the 1996 to 2000 brass ring with a 2-0 record and a 1.40 E.R.A.

4-1, BILLY MARTIN, JOE GORDON, PAUL O'NEILL AND TINO MARTINEZ Martin had 12 hits in 1953; over all, he batted .333 with 5 homers and 19 R.B.I. With a .259 average and 14 R.B.I. from 1938 to 1943, Gordon was a Hall of Fame second baseman. O'Neill hit .474 in the 2000 triumph over the Mets. Martinez had three homers, including a grand slam in a 1998 sweep of the Padres.

4-2, DEREK JETER, BERNIE WILLIAMS, MARIANO RIVERA, ANDY PETTITTE AND JERRY COLEMAN Where's Jorge Posada? He was not on the 1996 Series roster; he's 3-2. Coleman, who flew combat missions in World War II and the Korean War, was a timely .275 hitter and second baseman from 1949 to 1957.

4-3, BABE RUTH AND BILL SKOWRON In his seven Series in pinstripes, the Babe batted .375, slugged 15 homers and drove in 30 runs. In a 1928 sweep of the Cardinals, he hit .625 with 3 homers. He hit three homers in a game twice. Against the Cubs in 1932, he supposedly called his home run at Wrigley Field. Skowron had 26 R.B.I. with a .283 average as a first baseman from 1955 to 1962.

Elston Howard was on four Series winners, but had the bad luck to be on five losers. As for Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson was 2-1 as a Yankee; so was Catfish Hunter. Thurman Munson and Ron Guidry were 2-1. Among other prominent names, Roger Maris was 2-3, Roger Clemens 2-2.

Don Mattingly, of course, never had the opportunity. Until now, neither has Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira or C. C. Sabathia. But the ladder is there for them to climb.